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Not All Uber Drivers Like Surge Pricing, Either
CNET reports that Uber's practice of surge pricing, which sometimes raises the ire of passengers, isn't universally acclaimed by the company's drivers, either. "[M]ost Uber riders," according the the linked article, "despise surge pricing," though it's not clear quite how that "most" is arrived at. From the piece: They've complained about running up bills totaling hundreds of dollars, and have criticized the company for using surge pricing during emergencies, like Hurricane Sandy and the Sydney hostage crisis. The San Francisco Better Business Bureau gave Uber the grade of an F because of complaints related to surge pricing. And New York lawmakers have even proposed legislation to put limits on how high fares can go. Now some drivers, like [San Francisco Uber driver Peter] Ashlock, are also having second thoughts on surge pricing."
On the other hand, what system would you propose to better reward drivers for working at high-demand times?
This complaint just doesn't make any sense. We are moving to this pricing model all over the place, even in traffic control situations. Tolls on bridges and tunnels and express lanes are often "surge priced" these days. The express lanes into Miami on I-95 are only a quarter most of the time. But during rush hour and other heavy traffic times the lanes bump up towards $10.
And those are fixed resources - so there is no way to get more cars through the tunnel or over the bridge. With Uber the raised prices will theoretically get extra drivers on the street - limiting the surge in prices and getting service to more people.
And as others have mentioned - if you don't like the policy, you have alternatives.
Uh, wrong. The rules for taxis predate Uber in almost every case. Uber made a business model out of breaking the law.
The reason rides cost less is because they're not paying for infrastructure (cars) and insurance. The reason cars are nicer is drivers aren't recovering wear and tear costs, which they'll be figuring out soon.
Besides, if taxi companies have all this insane profit from all these rigged high prices, all they have to do to destroy Uber is buy newer cars and lower prices, kind of like Wal-Mart does to get rid of competition. Hell, some other company can do it. Let's race to the bottom in yet another industry! Know who will suffer? Oh, yeah, the drivers, as usual.
Reform taxi laws. Where is the outcry for that? Or are you so useless you just want to break the law instead of changing it?